The present invention relates to jewelry displays and storage devices and, in particular, to a slotted device capable of supporting pierced earrings of all available fastener designs.
A variety of devices for displaying and storing jewelry and, in particular, earrings have been developed over the years for personal and commerical use. While most facilitate the storage of jewelry, those which provide for a variety of drawered compartments and the like do not adequately display the contained jewelry for the wearer's inspection. Such a deficiency is particularly troublesome for the pierced earring wearer who may own fifty or more pairs of earrings which, even if not combined with other jewelry, are difficult to select from when randomly stored in a single or even smaller compartments. Accordingly and especially for long dangling earrings, it is preferably that each pair of earrings be separately mounted in some fashion to be readily viewable and not become entangled.
One holder of which Applicant is aware relative to the mentioned cabinet type storage device is U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,702. Again, though, such devices are believed deficient for the mentioned reasons. Other holders which more advantageously meet the pierced earring wearer's needs can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,181,224; 4,420,084 and 4,465,179. While each of these latter references disclose exposed support surfaces, they are principally directed to holders for earrings including a rigid stud and flexible clasp. Each earring consequently is attached to the holder by inserting the stud or post portion through the holder surface, before separately attaching the clasp to the post on the back side of the holder. Although, providing similar results to the present invention, such a mounting is oftentimes inconvenient and/or it is difficult to locate one post among many as the clasp is attached.
It is to be appreciated, though, that other earrings are available which are not fastened in this manner. Instead, they may include an S-shaped mounting bend or the earring itself may comprise a hoop, among some of the known different designs. Accordingly and even though the foregoing pierced earring holders provide advantages over cabinet holders, they still do not accommodate all types of earrings.
One other display holder of which Applicant is aware is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,638. It discloses a display member including a plurality of elongated slots which hold stacked flowers and other remembrances and curios, as opposed to pierced earrings. Although constructionally similar in the broad sense of the present earring holder, it is intended for a different use and, furthermore, does not permit an orderly removal of the displayed items nor provide many of the advantages of the present holder which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.